This invention relates to systems for manufacturing components of electric motors and particularly for manufacturing armatures with coils connected to commutators.
A typical armature known in the art is shown in FIG. 1. Armature 1 is provided a lamination stack 10, wherein coils 11 are wound in slots 12. Leads of the coils 11 are connected to tang members 13xe2x80x2 of commutator 13. The lamination stack 10 and the commutator 13 are mounted co-axially on shaft 14. The slots 12 are provided with insulation inserts 15 for insulating the innermost turns of the coils 11 from the metal surface of lamination stack 10. Insulation boards 16 and 16xe2x80x2 are also provided in abutment with the end faces of the lamination stack 10 to insulate between external portions of the coil turns and the lamination stack.
The specifications and dimensions of these armature components will be suggested by the particular applications in which the armature will be used. FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) illustrate some of the different armature configurations possible. Typically, armatures having similar or identical configurations are manufactured in groups, or batches. A group of armatures having a first configuration will be referred to herein as a first batch, and a group of armatures having a different configuration will be referred to herein as a second batch. In the description that follows, an exemplary configuration of a first batch is represented by armature 40 and illustrated in FIG. 2(a), and an exemplary configuration of a second batch is represented by armature 41 and illustrated in FIG. 2(b).
Armatures 40 and 41 may have certain specifications in common. For example, both armatures may have the same type of commutator C0 and C1, and may use single laminations to form the stacks. In addition, the following dimensions may be the same for both armature configurations: the diameter of the shafts A0 and A1, the distance D0 and D1 existing between the commutators and the lamination stacks L0 and L1, and the distances EL0 and EL1 between the end of the shafts and the commutators. However, armatures 40 and 41 may be provided in this example with different overall lengths OL0 and OL1, and perhaps other dimensional differences, different lamination stack lengths LS0 and LS1, and different size of wire used to wind the coils.
In order to manufacture armatures having different specifications in successive batches, each machine, or station, used to perform a manufacturing step must be converted from the first configuration to the second configuration. The conversion process is time consuming and typically requires that the assembly line be temporarily stopped. Furthermore, since each station may require a different amount of time to perform each manufacturing step, the timing of the conversion of each station between batches is critical and a complicated process.
It is therefore an object of the invention hereinafter claimed to provide methods and apparatus for converting an assembly line having a plurality of stations from manufacturing components having a first configuration to a second configuration.
It is a further object of the preferred embodiments of this invention to provide methods and apparatus for manufacturing armatures which permits the assembly of a first batch of armatures having a first configuration and a second batch of armatures having a second configuration in succession and with a reduced loss in the line""s output of armatures when there is a conversion between the various batches.
In one aspect, the invention provides a method of converting a manufacturing line for dynamo-electric machine components from manufacturing a first batch of components having a first configuration to manufacturing a second batch of components having a second configuration, the line comprising a plurality of processing stations, at least one of which performs a first processing step on first batch components and a second processing step on second batch components, means for conveying the components a synchronously from station to station, and means for identifying at least the leading component of the second batch of components so being conveyed, the method comprising conveying second batch components to said one station, and conveying second batch components upon which the second processing step has been performed from said one station only when all first batch components have been conveyed from said station.
In another aspect the invention provides a manufacturing line for dynamo-electric machine components which is convertible from manufacturing a first batch of components having a first configuration to manufacturing a second batch of components having a second configuration, the line comprising a plurality of processing stations, at least one of which performs a first processing step on first batch components and a second processing step on second batch components, means for conveying the components a synchronously from station to station, means for identifying at least the leading component of the second batch of components being conveyed, and means configured to control the conveying of components from the said one station so that second batch components upon which the second processing step has been performed are conveyed from said one station only when all first batch components have been conveyed from said station.
The invention may be utilized in preferred form in a manufacturing line capable of producing more than one configuration of the armatures like the type shown in FIG. 1. More particularly, the manufacturing line of this invention is capable of converting itself, automatically to manufacture different armature configurations. The scenario which results from using the line of the invention is that of an armature manufacturing environment producing batches of differently configured armatures, in succession and with a minimum loss in the line""s output of armatures when there is a conversion between the various batches.
The apparatus for manufacturing dynamo-electric machine components according to a first configuration and a second configuration includes an information storage device associated with one of the components for storing information corresponding to one of the first and the second configurations. The apparatus also includes a processing station (e.g., 24) capable of performing a first processing step corresponding to the first configuration and a second processing step corresponding to the second configuration. The processing station is arranged to perform one of the processing steps on the component according to the information stored in the information storage device.
In a preferred embodiment, the processing station has a queue for storing a plurality of components. The processing station may have a first machine and a second machine for performing processing steps on the components. The processing station may also be provided with a transfer device responsive to the information storage device configured to direct the components according to the first configuration to the first machine, and to direct components according to the second configuration to the second machine.
Novel methods for manufacturing dynamo-electric machine components are disclosed, which include providing an information storage device associated with one of the components for storing information corresponding to one of the first and the second configurations, and providing a processing station capable of performing a first processing step corresponding to the first configuration and a second processing step corresponding to the second configuration. The method includes reading the information stored in the information storage device, and performing one of the processing steps on the component corresponding to the configuration information stored in the information storage device.